Celebs don’t affect students’ vote
- posted: 13 Nov. 2007
- scrollnews@byui.edu
With less than one year left until the presidential election, the power to elect the most powerful world leader lies in the hands of American voters.
Celebrities stir up the election pot, but will big names like Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton or Pat Robertson mean anything to the average citizen?
“I think it depends on who the celebrity is,” said Dr. Trent Rose, a political science professor. “I think it just depends on the individual citizens and the weight they give to that person or that group.”
The Oprah Effect
“Oprah is a political media figure. [She] has a lot of reputation and power for who she is and for her television show,” Rose said. “Every book that goes on her ‘Book of the Month’ becomes the next best-seller for the next little while.”
Though she has never endorsed a candidate before, Oprah feels strongly enough to give Democratic candidate Barack Obama her sole endorsement.
“I didn’t know anybody well enough to be able to say, ‘I believe in this person,’” Oprah said in an interview on Larry King Live.
The Clinton Campaign
Rose feels that a benefit to the Clinton campaign is the active efforts of former president, Bill Clinton.
“I think that Bill, obviously, is an interesting case,” Rose said. “He has the experience of being a great campaigner. [The Clintons] have the strategies in place. He’s a definite asset.”
Robertson’s Effects
The support of televangelist Pat Robertson to former-mayor Giuliani “doesn’t mean that evangelicals are going to not vote for Romney,” Rose said.
However, Dr. Robert Inama, a political science professor, feels that Robertson will have a great impact on fundamentalist groups, despite Giuliani’s pro-abortion stand.
“It could have a tremendous boost for Rudy’s campaign,” Inama said.
He also said an endorsement might not have an effect on students at BYU-I.
“A lot [of students] would vote for Mitt Romney because he’s a member of the Church,” Inama said.
Students’ Stand
Michelle Castillo, a junior studying elementary education, said a celebrity endorsement would have no effect on her vote. One thing she looks for is high morals.
“I think I have standards that are different from candidates,” Castillo said. “I don’t want to compromise my standards for theirs that I don’t agree with.”
Students like Charles Sumpter, a freshman studying physics, agree.
“I prefer to do my own research,” he said, also listing morals as a key factor in his deciding vote.
The Deciding Factor
Inama and Rose encourage students to participate in the election process by knowing the issues and voting.
“The most important thing is just to take the time to study the issues,” Inama said. “Study the issues. Go out and vote.”
Rose also encourages students to consider the issues that affect them most and then think: Is this the kind of person I want to be a good leader for the country?
“This is an interesting campaign: an African-American man, a woman as front-runner, and Mitt Romney, who is LDS. Three new possibilities. That’s really intriguing. All of them have a legitimate chance at being president,” Rose said. 
